Ball-winding machine.



a. e. LOOMIS.

BALL WINDING MACHlNE.

APPLICATION man OCT. 19. 1915,.

Patented 00a 9,1917.

4 suns-shin 1.

E. G. LOOMIS.

BALL WINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED OCT. 14. 1915.

Patented 001;. 9, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 E. G. LOOMIS.

BKLL WINDING MACHINE.

APPucmou man ocr. M. was.

Patented Oct. 9, 1917.-

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3- E. G. LOOMIS.

BALL WINDING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION man 00114. ms.

Patented 00$. 9, 1917.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4 ll lllml 'IWI INVENTOR IATTORN s V EVAR 'I'S G. LOOMIS, 0F NEWARK,

NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO ST. MUNGO MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY OF AMERICA, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

BALL-WINDING MAGHIN E.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EVARTS G. LOOMIS, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Newark, county-of Essex,'and State of New J useful Improvements in Ball-Winding Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to -machines for winding balls such as are known as playin balls. .The machine is particularly designe to carry out in a practical manner the winding of a rubber thread or tape about a cen tral core so as to form a. larger spherical core or ball for use in the manufacture of golf balls.

As showing a specific embodiment of the invention reference is made to the drawings forming a part of this specification, in which drawings, v

Figure 1 is a vertical cross sectional view of the machine taken as on the line 11 of Fig. 4. In Fig. 1 the parts are shown in the position which they occupy when the core has been wound and removed from engagement with the driving or supporting rollers of the machine. Fig. 2 shows certain which they occupy while the core is being wound.

Fig. 3 is a vertical and longitudinal sectional view taken as on the planes indicated by the broken line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a partial plan view of the winding machine. In this view some of the covers have been removed so as to show the operating parts more clearly.

Fig. 5 shows in longitudinal section the details of the roller construction; and

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the ejector lever showing a portion of the resetting and operating link which is connected to it. The machine is provided with any suitable frame as -1 upon which the several parts of the machine are 'mounted. The

ballsor cores which are to be wound are indicated by.'AA. Fig. 2 shows the position of a ballor core while being 'woundand Fig. v1 shows the ball or core in the position which it occupies at the end of the winding operation.

The machine comprises a pair of parallel rollers 2, 2 whichmay be referred to as supporting rollers or as driving rollers, ar-- Specification of Letters Patent.

ersey, have invented certain new and prior to being wound. The

arts in the position- Patented Oct. 9, 1917.

Application filed October 14, 1915. Serial N 0. 55,757.

ranged a suitable distance apart so as to serve as a support for the core or ball being wound, and also to drive or rotate the core or ball for the thread upon it.

A mechanism 3 is provided to rotate these supporting rollers and also to impart a longitudinal movement to the rollers relative to' each other, and as will hereinafter appear the rollers reciprocate longitudinally as they rotate. The relative longitudinal movement between the rollers is provided to shift "the balls laterally so as to constantly change the course of the thread or tape whereby the product which is formed'in the machine will have a spherical form.

The machine is also provided with roller mechanism 4 which forces the core or ball being wound against the supporting rollers until the core or ball has reached the desired size.

The material which is to be wound upon the ball is supported as at 5 and passes over the tensioning and guiding means 6 machine is also mechanism 7 purpose of winding the provided with an ejector the function of which is to lift the ball 01 core from engagement with the driving rollers when it has reached the desired size and this is accomplished in the machine shown by mechanism which is caused to be operated whenthe ball or core has moved the holding roller 4 and its carrying frame the desired distance. 1

As previously indicated, the rollers 2, 2 are spaced a suflicient distance apart to provide a suitable receiving space for a ball or core such as a core of solid rubber or a core having liquid contained'in a casing. These rollers 2, 2 must be close enough togethe however to serve as a suitable support for the core to be wound and also such a distance apart that they will be able to rotate or drive the core to be wound without throwing the core out of the machine.

The core or ball while being wound is engaged as is shown in Fig. 2 by the holding roller 4: which is preferably a split roller. This split roller 4 is carried in the forward free end of an arm 8 that is pivotally mounted on the frame at 9.

. The frame has a rigid upstanding arm 10 so as to provide an abutment for the nut 11 in which the screw-member 12 is located. A link 13 passes through the screw 12 and is pivotally connected to the arm 8 at 14. As the upper end of the link 13 is provided with a threaded nut 15 it can be utilized as a stop to determine the lowest distance which the arm 8 can occupy. This arm is normally pressed toward its lowest position by the coil compression-spring 16 that surrounds the link. presses against the arm 8 while the other end of the compression-spring presses against the lower face of the screw 12. The arm 8 is provided with a handle 8 whereby the operator of the machine can lift the arm 8 and the pressing roller 4 when he desires to insert a core in place in the machine or when he desires to remove a core from the machine.

The ejector 7, heretofore referred to, comprises a lever or arm 17 that is pivotally mounted on the frame at 18 and to this lever or arm 17 there is pivotally connected a link 19. The lower end of the' link 19 is connected to the op erating lever 20 whereby by pushing I downwardly on the free end of the lever 20 the ejecting mechanism can be reset.

An adjustable 'collar 21 is carried on this link 19 and against this collar there presses the upper end of a COIIIPIBSSlOIl'. spring 22. The lower end of this compression-spring presses against the table upon which the machine is carried and the function of this spring is to press the ejecting lever toward ejecting position. The ejecting lever 17 is provided with the upstanding portion 23 which when engaged at 24 by the latch or catch 25 serves to hold the ejector in inoperative osition. The latch or catch 25 has a ban le26 whereby the latch may be released by hand and it is also provided with the depending portion 27. The movable frame or arm 8 has an integral upstanding arm 28 on which there is mounted an adjusting screw 29. This screw 29 is arranged so that it can engage the depending portion 27 that is'on the catch 25 so that as a ball or core A forces the pressing roller 4 upwardly with its increase in size the upper end of the arm 28 will be moved rearwardly and the latch 25 will be released from engagement with the member 24 due to the screw 29 engaging and moving the depending portion 27 on the latch.

The main shaft 30 of the machine is carried in any suitable bearings as 31 and upon one end of this shaft there is mounted the driving gear 32.and at the other as through the tight and loose pulleys 34 The shaft is driven in any suitable manner as though the tight and loose pulleys 34 and 35, respectively. In mesh with the One end of this spring 16.

masses bevel gear 33 meshes. with the bevel 'gear' 37 which, through the medium of the pin 38, drives the upper and lower cams 39 and 40. The bevel gear 37 rotates around a fixed bearing, to wit, about the shaft 41.

The earns 39 and 40 are clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and a portion of one of these cams is indicated at the right hand of Fig. The gears 36 are the gears through which the rotary movement is imparted to the rollers from the driving gears 32. The relative longitudinal movement between the rollers is imparted to the rollers by means of the cams just referred to. These cams each reciprocate, in a longitudinal direction, the supporting roller which it controls. The mechanism whereby this is enabled to be accomplished will be presently described.

A detail of the supporting roller mechanism is shown in Fig. 5. In actual practice the roller 2 is made of an aluminum casting which is secured by means of the pin 42 to a spindle 43, preferably of steel, and it is upon this spindle 43 that the gear 36 is located. For the sake of lightness and compactness of structure each of these spindles is made hollow for a comparatively large portion of its length. The righthand end of this spindle is provided with a thrust bearing made of hardened steel at 44. The spherical end of this bear- Each of the rollers 2 is normally forced toward the right so that the roller 47 will engage its proper cam by means of the compression spring 48, part of which spring extends into a hollowed portion 48 in the spindle. One end of this spring rests at X against a part on the-frame and the other end of the spring engages at Y with the thrust bearing member 49. The thrust bearing of which the member 49"is a part also comprises the hardened steel plate 50 and the spherical ended member 51. Both the parts 50 and 51 arepreferably made of a hardened steel and are arranged so that a spherical end on the member 51 engages a flat surface on the member 50. The

spring 48 surrounds a hollow rod or tube 52 through which oilmay be inserted to the bearing. This rod also serves to maintain the spring in proper form. It will thus be observed from an inspection of this figure rollers.

mechanisms are when taken in conjunction with Fig. 3 that each of the rollers 2 cams toward the left against the compression of the respective springs and that these springs serve in turn to force the rollers to the right. as they are the movement of'the cams. An inspection of"Fig.' 4- Will furthermore make it clear that for each revolution of each cam there are several reciprocatory movements for each of the supporting rollers and it will also be observed that the cams are of such a shape and arranged so that there is a relative longitudinal movement between the These cams have been designed so that due to the longitudinal movement of the rollers they will cause the balls or cores to turn laterally while they are rotating the balls or cores in a proper direction to Wind a thread or tape upon the The ejector mechanism is made so that it will remove a ball or core from the supporting rollers when the ball or core is of the proper size and it will therefore be manifest that a number of balls or cores can be wound simultaneously upon the same machine provided a number of holding and ejecting arranged in cooperative relation to the supporting rollers. For each holding and ejecting mechanism there is also provided a guiding and tensioning means and this is indicated by the reference character 6 in Fig. 2.

The path of ,the thread or tape from its source of supply 5 to the core or ball A, Where it is wound, is through the guide opening 53, over the flat idler wheel 54, the flat face wheel and the grnovedwheel 56 to the core A. The fiat face wheel 55 and the grooved wheel 56 have between them the chain of gearing comprising the spur wheels indicated by 57, 58 and 59. The ratio of this gearing is such that a determined tension or elongation will be imparted to the thread or tape as it passes over and .in engagement with the guiding rollers or wheels 55 and 56. This portion of this apparatus may be referred to as a tensioning or elongating meansand also as a part of a guiding means. The roller 54 is mounted on an arm be retracted against the pressure of the spring 60. One end of this spring 60" presses against the arm at 61 while the other end of the spring is secured at 62 by means of the split collar 63 that can be clamped in the d sired position by, the screw 64.

In the operation of the machine, a core is placed on the supporting rollers and the pressing roller 4 is brought to the position shown in Fig. 2. As the operation proceeds, the core or ball is caused to turn in the direction of the arrows shown in Fig. 2, and the can be forced by the permitted to do so by which can core is also given a partial lateral rotation by the relative longitudinal movement that is imparted to the rollers 2, 2 by the cams. The rubber thread or tape is drawn from the source of supply 5 means which comprises means and it is stretched the, desired distance by the rollers 55 and 56 which have different speeds of rotation. In other words, the surface speed of'the roller 55 (and also the surface speed of the roller 54) is slower than the surface speed of the roller or wheel 56. It will be observed that the fiat idler wheel 54, flat face wheel 55-which latter may be considered the advance geared wheel of the geared setand the grooved wheel 56which may be considered the rear geared wheel of the geared set-are all free to rotate. In other words, the wheels 54, 55 and 56 are propelled by the rubber strip itselfbe it in the form of a thread or tapeasthe strip is drawn over these wheels during the winding operation. As above indicated, the ratio of the gearing between the advance wheel and the rear wheel is such as to cause a substantially lower rate of speed of the periphery of the advance wheel than the grooved or rear wheel and there will necessarily result a substantial elongation'in actual practice approximately-800%. The construction comprising the geared wheels may be referred to, as previously indicated, as a tensioning device, and is particularly applicable to machines for winding rubber upon the cores of playing-balls, still it is to be noted that t is tensioning device may be employed in said tensioning other machines ,Where itis desired to elongate or stretch strands. When the ball or core has reached the desired size it raises the split roller 4 a sufficient distance from the supporting rollers for the split roller in turn to lift the frame-to the position where tit over the guiding the catch 25 is released, thus allowing the ejector 7 to remove the ball or core from the rollers 2,2. In order-that a ball A will be retained between the ejector and the holding rollers 4, a depending member 60 having a roller 60* which is arranged on the arm 8 so that the roller 60* will engage the ball or core on the rear side. The split holding roller 4 engages the I ball slightly ahead of the center and so does the I ejector and thus a three-point engagement with the ball or core "is provided which will properly hold the core or ball until it is removed from the machine by the operator.

While the machine is particularly adapted for the winding of rubber on the core of golf balls, still it will be manifest that the winding machine is adaptable for the winding of gther materials on the cores of other playing alls.

The improvements herein set forth are not a limited-to the precise construction and arrangement shown and described, as they may be embodied in various forms and modifications without departing from the spirit and- 5 or core from said parallel rollers when the ball or core has reached the desired size.

2. The combination in a ball-winding machine of parallel supporting rollers, means for rotating said rollers and H for moving them longitudinally relative to each other, pressing mechanism comprising a roller which is located above said supporting rollers, and ejecting means cooperating with said pressing mechanism, which ejecting means is constructed so that when the pressing roller reaches a determined position relatlve to the supporting rollers the ejecting means will be allowed to operate in a manner to remove a ball or core, that is engaged by the presser roller, from the position where the ball or core will be driven by said supporting rollers.

3. A ball-winding machine of the class described comprising in combination suptudinal movement, a holding or pressing roller located above the supporting rollers,

- they rotate, a pivotally mounted ejector having the free end of one of its arms located between said parallel rollers, a pivotally mounted. arm having at its forward end: roller means for holding a' core, while bein wound, inengagement with said paralle rollers and means cooperating with said pivoted members whereby, when the core reaches a certain size, the ejector will be brought. into operation to remove the core fromsaid supportingrollers.

5, A ball-winding machine of the class described comprising in combination support-- ing rollers, a holding roller located above said supporting. rollers for normally pressing a 5 core or ball against said supporting rollers,

porting rollers which have relative longiaaaaeee when wound, on the side which is rear of said vertical line, and an ejector for engaging the underside of the core in a manner to remove the core from the supporting rollers andto hold the core in removed position while the latter is in engagement with the holding roller and the member which engages thecore at the rear. 6. A ball-windin machine having parallel supporting rol ers, a movable member having thereupon roller means for holding a core, while being wound, in engagement with the supporting rollers, which rollerholding means is located above the supporting rollers, an ejector that extends into the space between the supporting rollers, and means cooperating with the movable member having thereupon the holding roller and with the ejector whereby when the holding. roller means has been raised a certain distance from the supporting rollers the ejector will be caused to operate, said movable member also having thereupon a ball retaining member which serves to help hold the core in raised position when the latter is engaged by the holding roller means and the ejector. 7. A ball-winding machine comprising in combination parallel supporting rollers, a movable member carrying thereupon a hold- .ing roller, which movable member is constructed and arranged so that the holding roller can be forced toward the supporting rollers by a spring means which constitutes an element in the machine, an ejector ar- I ranged so as to lift the core from engage- 5 ment with the supporting rollers, and mechanism comprising a releasing catch or latch which permits the ejector to operate when the holding roller reaches a certain position relative to the supporting rollers.

8. A machine of the class described comprising in combination a frame, supportingrollers carried thereby, means for rotating said rollers, means forimparting reciproeating movement in a. longitudinal direction to said rollers and for imparting a relative lon 'tudinal movement between said rollers,

a pivotally mounted arm having at the forward end thereof a split roller for holding the core being wound in engagement with the supporting rollers, said split roller being located above the supporting rollers, an adjustabl'espring-means normally forcing the split roller toward the supporting rollers, an

upwardly extending arm integral with the A forwardly extending'arm above referred to, a pivoted catch, an adjusting screw at the upper end of the upwardly extending arm, which screw serves to move the" catch when the split roller has been raised to a certain 1'30 point, a spring-actuated ejector having a portion thereof arranged so that it extends between the supporting rollers in a manner so that it can lift the core or ball from the supporting rollers when the ejector is allowed to operate, said ejector having a memher which cooperates with the catch so as to hold the ejector from operating until released.

9. A ball-winding machine of the class described having in combination parallel driving rollers, means for imparting relative longitudinal movement between the rollers as they are rotated, and a split roller located above the driving rollers for forcing the core or ball vto be wound into engagement with the driving rollers, said driving rollers being provided on their driving faces with a casting made of aluminum.

10. A machine for winding a rubber thread or tape upon a core, which machine comprises in combination a pair of supporting and driving rollers, its driving face a casting vof aluminum, means for rotating said rollers, means for imparting relative longitudinal movement between 'said rollers, a holding roller located above said driving rollers, and means for guiding a rubber thread or tape to the core as the latter is being wound in the machine.

11. A machine of the class described comprising in combination a frame, a main driving shaft carried by said frame, a main gear on said shaft, a pair of supporting rollers mounted in bearings on the frame so as to permit of a relative longitudinal movement between them, each of said rollers having a gear which cooperates with the main gear, which said roller gears are constructed so that relative longitudinal movement between them can take place as the main gear drives the roller-gears, the main shaft also having a bevel gear which in turn cooperates with a second bevel gear that drives two cams, one of which cams controls the longitudinal movement of one of the each having upon supporting rollers, while the other of said cams controls the longitudinal movement of the other of said rollers.

12. A machine of the class described comprising in combination a pair of parallel supporting rollers each of which are continuously spring-pressed toward a cam, a holding roller located above the supporting rollers, means for rotating the supporting rollers and for also simultaneously reciprocatinglongitudinally the supporting rollers, which means comprise a pair of cams arranged upon a common shaft, one of which cams controls the longitudinal movement of one of the supporting rollers and forces it against its spring, and the other of which cams controls the longitudinal movement of the other supporting roller and forces it against its spring, the cams being constructed and arranged so that at times there is a relative longitudinal movement between the rollers.

13. In a ball-winding machine the combination of a frame, bearings carried by the frame, a driving roller having a spindle passing through said bearings, a cam carried on a shaft which is mounted in bearings on said frame, a socket member which surrounds one end of said spindle and which socket-member has a roller that engages said cam, a stem carried by said frame and entering a socket in said spindle, cooperating thrust bearing members located in said socket, and a spring located between said- .frames and one of said thrust bearing members and extending into said socket there being a driving gear secured to said spindle and also a thrust bearing between the spindle and the socket-member which carries the roller that engages the cam.

This specification signed and witnessed this 13th day of October, A. D. 1915;

, EVARTS G. LOOMIS.

Signed in the presence of G. MCGRANN,

EDWIN A. PACKARD. 

